1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a family of communications equipment having a plurality of lines, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art techniques for facsimile apparatuses include the one described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Disclosure HEI 5-219275, for example. Dual communication facsimile apparatuses as disclosed therein may be efficiently used, since the two lines may be used individually for transmission and reception at the same time.
However, even with such dual communication facsimile apparatuses which allow conversation and/or facsimile transmission to be performed individually over two lines, a busy signal is produced whenever the telephone is dialed for additional conversation or facsimile transmission with the same end over a second line if a first line has already been occupied due to conversation or facsimile transmission.
Here, the operator must wait until the receiver is freed from the busy state when the operator dials, whereas when the telephone is automatically controlled, it must be ready for redialing, which may result in the second line being reserved and prevent the line from being operated otherwise.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus with increased usability, which is designed so that the dialing operation is controlled to increase the usability of the facsimile apparatus when the receiver, which has been connected for conversation or facsimile transmission over a first line, is attempted to be additionally connected for separate conversation or facsimile transmission over a second line.